[PATCH bpf-next 0/4] bpf path iterator

Song Liu song at kernel.org
Wed May 28 22:26:19 UTC 2025


In security use cases, it is common to apply rules to VFS subtrees.
However, filtering files in a subtree is not straightforward [1].

One solution to this problem is to start from a path and walk up the VFS
tree (towards the root). Among in-tree LSMs, Landlock uses this solution.

BPF LSM solutions, such like Tetragon [2], also use similar approaches.
However, due to lack of proper helper/kfunc support, BPF LSM solutions
usually do the path walk with probe read, which is racy.

This patchset introduce a reliable helper path_parent, which walks path to
its VFS parent. The helper is use in Landlock.

A new BPF iterator, path iterator, is introduced to do the path walking.
The BPF path iterator uses the new path_parent help to walk the VFS tree
reliably.

[1] https://lpc.events/event/18/contributions/1940/
[2] https://github.com/cilium/tetragon/

Song Liu (4):
  namei: Introduce new helper function path_parent()
  landlock: Use path_parent()
  bpf: Introduce path iterator
  selftests/bpf: Add tests for bpf path iterator

 fs/namei.c                                    |  39 +++++
 include/linux/namei.h                         |   8 ++
 kernel/bpf/Makefile                           |   1 +
 kernel/bpf/helpers.c                          |   3 +
 kernel/bpf/path_iter.c                        |  74 ++++++++++
 kernel/bpf/verifier.c                         |   5 +
 security/landlock/fs.c                        |  34 ++---
 .../testing/selftests/bpf/bpf_experimental.h  |   6 +
 .../selftests/bpf/prog_tests/path_iter.c      |  12 ++
 tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/path_iter.c | 134 ++++++++++++++++++
 10 files changed, 299 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 kernel/bpf/path_iter.c
 create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/bpf/prog_tests/path_iter.c
 create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/path_iter.c

--
2.47.1



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